Student apartment buildings are on the rise

Eugene, once a laid-back college town, is rapidly transforming as the number of high-rise student apartment buildings continues to grow.

Since the pandemic, new high-rises have been built in Eugene to accommodate the influx of students: Flock13, Chapter at Eugene, The Standard at Eugene, Union on Broadway, The Rive Eugene and Ferry Street Flats. And Chapter at Alder is set to finish in 2027, after which there will be 2,389 new beds added to Eugene from these student apartments.

The demand for student apartments

Since 2020, student enrollment at the University of Oregon has grown from 21,800 to 24,462 in the fall of 2024.

In addition to the influx of students, UO is different from other institutions in that it only requires students to live on campus their first year. After that, the only on-campus dorm is the apartment-style Yasui Hall, which has 144 units and 400 beds.

Each of the new off-campus apartment buildings has its own floor plans, rent prices, amenities and problems. Here’s a look at four of Eugene’s major new housing developments intended for students:

Flock13

871 E. 13th Ave.

Flock13 opened in the fall of 2024 in partnership with The Duck Store. The building features retail stores on the first floor and a community space on the second floor with an open-floor terrace, just a block away from campus.

There are 107 units with 188 beds, and floor plans range from studios up to three-bedroom apartments.

Tarek Anthony, a senior at UO, lives in a studio at Flock13. He is renewing his lease, though he wanted to get out after having a series of issues with both the building’s organization and his individual apartment.

“We didn’t have mailboxes,” Anthony said. “Like our mailboxes to receive mail weren’t set up until January or February, so we used to have to go downtown to the post office to pick up our mail, so that irritated people.”

In his apartment, Anthony’s fridge broke down for nearly a month, spoiling all of his food. What did he get for it? A couple $100 Visa gift cards.

“I was harassing them and then I had to threaten legal action against them before they actually went to the store and gave me a smaller fridge for the meantime,” Anthony said. “But that was like three weeks later, and so I lost all the food that was in my freezer, and I also had to eat out at restaurants for three weeks. It was a mess.”

There are four different types of studios at Flock13, differentiated by A through D. The rent price for Studio A starts at $1,520 for 350 to 352 square feet, the smallest of the four studios. 

A report by RentHop says the average price for a studio apartment in Eugene is $1,125, so the cheapest studio at Flock13 is almost $400 above the average. And only going higher.

Anthony said the building raised rent by hundreds of dollars for new incoming tenants. His rent was set to be raised, but he negotiated to lower that price.

“The prices definitely went up hundreds of dollars this year for new people, and I think mine went up like 25 or 50 (dollars),” Anthony said.

Amie MacKinnon, marketing manager for deChase Miksis Development, the developer of Flock13, said that the features of the building make it “a place that really fits student life, with conveniences and connections that other apartments just don’t offer.”

Union on Broadway

480 E. Broadway

Containing 357 units with 608 beds, Union on Broadway began leasing in fall 2022. The building is located next to Burrito Boy, about a 15-minute walk from campus. Saj Sundaram, a rising senior at UO, lived in Union last year and has already renewed his lease for the upcoming year.

Sundaram lives in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with a roommate, and decided to renew his lease when the building offered him a deal early-on that would decrease his rent. 

He did negotiate, though, and brought up moving to a different building to get $300 off per month.

There are three different private two-bedroom and two-bathroom floor plans at Union, numbered one through three. One has a base rent of $1,325 per person, two has a base rent of $1,340 and three is a deluxe option with a base rent of $1,310 per person. 

RentHop reported the average price for a two-bedroom and two-bathroom apartment in Eugene is about $660 per person. 

Union offers a number of amenities including a fitness center, bike storage, rooftop and multiple lounges, but the main issue with the building has been its parking garage.

Sundaram pays $170 a month to park his truck in the parking garage, but the garage breaks down more often than not, leading to dangerous circumstances.

“At least for me, the parking garage just constantly breaking is a little bit irritating,” Sundaram said. “Half the reason I pay such a high parking garage fee is because I thought it had a good garage.”

When Union’s garage breaks down, the building just leaves the door open. Sundaram’s truck was broken into last winter when the garage was broken and many of his personal items were stolen.

Lookout Eugene-Springfield reached out to Union for comment but did not receive a response.

Chapter at Eugene

760 E. 13th Ave.

The Chapter at Eugene opened its doors at the same time as Flock13 in the fall of 2024, with amenities such as a pet park, fitness center and rooftop. It’s located next to The Dough Co, about two blocks from campus. The building has 119 units with 302 beds.

Ryan Gharib, entering his junior year at UO, lived at Chapter last year and has renewed his lease for the upcoming year. If he had a better option, though, he would have moved.

Gharib lives in a four-bedroom and three-bathroom apartment, and said he was offered a lower price to renew, but his rent is about the same with fees and utilities.

The only reason Gharib stayed at Chapter was because he was studying abroad in Spain last spring and wasn’t around to look for a new place to live.

“Honestly, if I didn’t go abroad, I would not have renewed,” Gharib said.

When looking at options, he found other apartment buildings were cheaper, but besides time, he enjoys the location of the Chapter.

Gharib’s base rent for his apartment starts at $959, without utilities. 

The average price for a four-bedroom apartment at Union from its three options is about $1,000, but Union does come with additional amenities.  

Chapter has some similarities to other buildings in resident complaints, like car break-ins, mail disorganization and lack of security, Gharib said.

“There’s so many little things that may seem small, but they add up,” Gharib said. “There’s one kid who literally just caused a fire in his room.”

Lookout Eugene-Springfield reached out to Chapter, but management was not available to comment due to time restraints.

The Standard at Eugene

475 E. Broadway

Luke Mercurio, a recent 2025 UO graduate, works and lives at The Standard at Eugene, which opened its doors in fall of 2024.

The Standard has 247 units with 703 beds, in floor plans ranging from studios to five-bedroom, five-bathroom apartments, and is located across the street from Union. 

Mercurio lives in the “Foxtail” version of a five-bedroom and five-bathroom apartment. As an employee, he gets 30% off rent, a driving factor in deciding to work at the building.

The base price of Mercurio’s apartment is $1,140, without his discount.

The Standard has unique amenities not found at other apartment buildings, including pool tables in some apartments, a two-story rock wall, an outdoor jumbotron and sports simulator.

Mercurio’s apartment has a pool table in the common living area and each bedroom has its own TV.

Although Mercurio is an employee, he has seen his fair share of issues and complaints.

“We didn’t have trash chutes up and running for the first couple months,” Mercurio said. “And then our Wi-Fi wasn’t working for the first couple months. Those were definitely some big concerns.”

Similarly to the other buildings, The Standard also has had some car break-ins in its 256-spot parking garage. Even with security, the building is still dealing with this issue.

“There’s literally nothing you can do. We have security, and we have everything set in place to really be the most secure we can possibly be,” Mercurio said. “Nothing can really help a determined homeless guy from breaking your window.”

The managing staff, other employees and developers of the remaining buildings did not respond to Lookout and could not be reached for comment.